Saturday, January 17, 2015

On The Air: Robot Chicken (2005)

There are very few shows on [adult swim]'s roster that can actually say they've been around for 10 years. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Robot Chicken.

The series began life online under another title for Sony (which co-produces the series) 4 years earlier, but then [adult swim] got their hands on it, and, quite frankly, it's perhaps one of the best things they have going for it right now.

Take the use of action figures and other inanimate objects used on Nickelodeon's Action League Now! in the 90's, mix in coarse language and the snarky attitude of [as], and that pretty much describes Robot Chicken in a nutshell. Created by Matthew Seinrich and actor Seth Green (Family Guy), Robot Chicken will skewer just about anything. Amazingly, it has avoided the backlash from certain media corners that has dogged South Park, which has been around longer.

The sample clip I chose wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the Star brothers' newly launched Twin Factor website (they've closed their blog), where they posted this bit from 2011. Imagine if Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen had the powers of a certain pair of animated siblings...............

As the Stars noted, the writers screwed things up along the way. Whether it was by design or not, I cannot be sure. Knowing what network this is on, I'd say, yeah, it was intentional, which makes whatever joke they were trying to tell sabotaged as a result. Showing once again they're not afraid to bite the hands that feed them, Robot Chicken has satirized DC and Marvel comics characters, as well as Scooby-Doo and other pop culture favorites. Realizing that they had the resources to appeal to a wider audience, Cartoon Network adapted the long-running humor mag, Mad, into a series a few years back, but that bit the dust about a year or so ago, due largely to [as] continuing to poach quality air space from the core network. Green has had his Family Guy castmates contribute to Robot Chicken as well.

The earlier seasons, I believe, are available on DVD, but wait until after dark to play them. It's meant to be that way.